Many sports involve the striking of an object such as a ball or a puck by an implement such as a racket, golf club, baseball bat or hockey stick by swinging the implement into engagement with the object. Through practice and appropriate exercise a person swinging the implement can improve his or her ability in hitting the object more consistently and with greater power. Training aids of various types have been devised to help the development of muscular strength and coordination to produce a quick and powerful swing. For example, with respect to baseball bats it is well known to use a weighted ring having an inside diameter sufficient to fit over a handle of a bat but insufficient for the striking portion of the bat to pass through. Swinging a bat with such a ring can be useful in developing one's muscles however the inertia the extra weight provides is more beneficial for the start of the swing than for that portion of the swing involving the breaking of the wrists in snapping the bat through the ball. Additionally, the weighted ring can be hazadous when used by children such as little leaguers who can easily hurt their fingers by having the ring move toward the handle if the bat is not handled properly to utilize centrifugal force in maintaining the ring out in the environs of the hitting portion of the bat.
Devices are known which employ a plurality of vanes mounted on a body which is lodged on a bat. The vanes extend in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bat thereby serving to generate aerodynamic drag and promote muscular development and coordination by air resistance to the swinging of the bat. An example of such a device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,809,397. While this device is effective it has the disadvantage that it is, in effect, dedicated to bats having essentially the same size and taper. There is a need to provide a training aid which is more universally usable with bats having a wide variety of sizes and tapers as well as other hitting implements.